fulsome

Meaning

1. Offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous, excessive.
2. Excessively flattering (connoting insincerity).
3. Characterised or marked by fullness; abundant, copious.
4. Fully developed; mature.

Synonyms

unctuous

buttery

abundant

oily

smarmy

soapy

oleaginous

exorbitant

extravagant

flattering

hearty

hyperbolic

immoderate

inordinate

insincere

loathly

loathsome

mawkish

nauseous

overabundant

plenteous

plentiful

rampant

rank

shocking

sickening

steep

undue

vaulting

whopping

loathful

profuse in

abnormal

scaturient

abounding

copious

disgusting

distasteful

exceeding

excess

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfʊlsəm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fulsom

In summary

From Middle English fulsom, equivalent to ful- + -some. The meaning has evolved from an original positive connotation "abundant" to a neutral "plump" to a negative "overfed". In modern usage, it can take on any of these inflections. See usage note.
The negative sense "offensive, gross; disgusting, sickening" developed secondarily after the 13th century and was influenced by Middle English foul (“foul”). In the 18th century, the word was sometimes even spelled foulsome.